This invention relates to handling and packaging apparatus for the packaging of coils of material, such as coils of sheet metal, e.g. steel strip.
The steel strip produced in strip mills is taken off in the form of a hollow cylindrical coil that requires to be protected both against corrosion and mechanical damage in its journey to the user. It is therefore usual to package the coils, generally using an inner wrapping of paper and/or an outer wrapping of a thin sheet steel so that the coil is completely encased.
UK Patent 1275602 describes one form of packaging for coils, and a process for applying the packaging, in which each coil is lifted onto a floor-mounted conveyor which at one station has supporting rollers that allow the coil to be rotated about its own axis for applying a wrapping sheet to its outer circumference. The conveyor also has means to progress the coil axially to transfer it to a further station along the conveyor where strapping bands can be applied over the wrapping.
The process described in that earlier disclosure has a number of disadvantages. For example, it requires difficult manual operations to align the wrapping axially of the coil and around the coil. While the coil is rotating on its supporting rollers it is even more difficult to maintain that alignment of the coil with the wrapping sheet. These adjustment problems can be particularly troublesome when the width of the coil requires a pair of overlapping wrapping sheets to cover it, and where it may be necessary to secure the individual sheets together by spot welding.
The use of a single conveyor having a number of successive operation stations along its length can be very space-consuming, especially for wrapping methods that require a large number of operations. It is known in coil conveying systems to use means for angling a conveying path--e.g. indexing means that comprise horizontal arms that can be located through the hollow centre or eye of a coil to take it off one conveyor, and can be rotated about a vertical axis to locate the coil for transfer onto a further conveyor at an angle to the first conveyor, but such systems require additional space.